ASHEVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina's guard tandem of Caleb Love and R.J. Davis are just freshmen, no matter the high recruiting rankings or future NBA draft projections. It is also true that Love and Davis are going to have to play better if the Tar Heels are going to be better.
That's not to put all of the weight from the No. 14 Heels' 69-67 loss to No. 17 Texas in the Maui Invitational championship squarely on their shoulders. It would be unfair and untrue to label it that way, especially considering the 14 missed free throws the team had. But college basketball is still a guards' game and point guard is the most important position in coach Roy Williams' system.
Carolina's frontcourt put on another strong performance led by forward Garrison Brooks' team-high 18 points. The loss proved the Heels need to get a better performance out of Love and Davis. The pair combined to shoot 5 of 24 from the field and they totaled seven of the team's 14 turnovers.
"It's part of the growing pains, but at the same time that sounds like an excuse, and they have got to grow up quickly," Williams said after Wednesay's loss. "We can't keep doing that and saying, 'Well, they're freshmen.' It doesn't make any difference because it counts in the loss column and you can't have seven turnovers with two guys running your point guard spot."
It's certainly not a matter of talent. Texas coach Shaka Smart said he recruited many of the same players that ended up in Carolina's freshmen class, including Love. The Longhorns' scouting report put such an emphasis on Love that they used their best perimeter defender, Matt Coleman III, on him to start.
"I don't know that we did anything specific on Caleb other than we felt like he was the most important guard to contain and so we started Matt on him," Smart said. "And I think all of our perimeter guys did a nice job on him."
Love had been the primary ball handler through the first three games. In the second half against Texas, Davis appeared to direct the floor more. Both have totaled more turnovers than assists this season.
Their learning curve applies defensively, too. Williams lamented how on more than one occasion in the first half, had players start at the top of the 3-point line and have an unimpeded drive for layups.
Williams said on the game-winning shot by Coleman, he might have tried a double-team with a more experienced team. But he said the Heels haven't executed that well in practice and he didn't want to give up a layup if they didn't execute it properly. Davis was left defending one-on-one as Coleman used a step-back to get his shot off.
"If you've ever played basketball, it's up to you to guard that guy," Williams said. "R.J. tried to do a good job and Matt hit a tough shot."
No one expects Love and Davis to immediately be able to pick up the fast tempo Williams likes to run. When the offense is running to perfection, Carolina can operate with the kind of speed where after an opponents' made basket it advances the ball so quickly up the floor that it immediately answers with a score.
This team isn't near that level yet. In the Roy Williams era in Chapel Hill, the Heels are currently operating at their slowest tempo ever, according to Kenpom.com. Carolina's adjusted tempo ranks 110th nationally among Division I schools. Previously, his slowest team was last season, when it ranked 67th. (The two fastest years when the Heels ranked sixth in adjusted tempo, they featured Coby White at point guard in 2018-19 and Ty Lawson on the 2008-09 national championship team.)
"We're still learning, still getting better as a team every day," Brooks said in his postgame video conference. "It's an everyday process to keep working and getting better, get used to how everybody plays and just keep growing."
The speed will presumably come later, but right now the Heels would settle for better decision making. Too many times, especially in the first half against the Longhorns, Love and Davis would drive too deep into the lane and either get their shot blocked or make an errant pass.
"That's experience," Williams said. "I don't think they're pressing. You just got to make better decisions."
